


Cherry Wine

by Kingjeongjeong (kingjeongjeong)



Series: Stay By My Side (I Need You) [1]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Everyone Is Gay, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, Gun Violence, Hongjoong is the bad guy sorry, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Jeong Yunho is Whipped, Kidnapping, Love Confessions, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Mingi is tired, Near Death Experiences, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Past Sexual Assault, Rated For Violence, Slow Burn, Song Mingi is Whipped, Spies & Secret Agents, Violence, Yunho is a little shit, mingi is bad at feelings, platonic woosang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:20:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25072255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingjeongjeong/pseuds/Kingjeongjeong
Summary: Mingi figured that maybe it was the day of their first undercover mission that landed him in this spot. It had to be. Why else would Jeong Yunho be on his mind while he was tied up in this dirty warehouse?OrMingi and Yunho fight crime, but along the way they fall in love.
Relationships: Choi San & Jung Wooyoung, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Jeong Yunho & Song Mingi, Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong & Park Seonghwa, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Seongjoong - Relationship, Woosan - Relationship, Yungi - Relationship
Series: Stay By My Side (I Need You) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815805
Comments: 27
Kudos: 94





	1. Poison in Your Viens

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii!! Welcome to my Yungi fake dating au!!! This story came to me after binge-watching the last of us playthroughs and suddenly I was like 😯 Yungi and guns... I need it. For the most part, I have this story planned out and I hope you guys enjoy it. In my head, everyone has their Answer era hair except Wooyoung and Mingi, who have inception era hair!! This fic is probably gonna be updated sorta slow because I'm writing another fic at the same time as this (a skz minsung fic!) So I'll be busy. Hopefully, I'll actually finish this. Anyway, here's Wonderwall
> 
> EDIT: I made a playlist for this, Its just songs I listened to while writing, and also a few of the chapters will be based on these songs. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3R7AoyXMbfA1jkH5sph9yA?si=ifGB8PbeRhuK6RQurlUDvA

Every morning Mingi woke up at 5:00 am. By 5:15 his toast and coffee were done and he spent exactly 15 minutes enjoying his breakfast. Occasionally he liked to add honey or jam to his toast, but today he opted for a bland taste and black coffee. Nice and simple. By 5:35, he was in the shower. He followed the same routine every day. Shampoo, condition, wash the body. He made sure every single part of his body was clean, so this was the longest part of his routine. When his alarm signaled it was 6 o'clock, he hopped out the shower and headed to the sink to brush his teeth. 6:05 he started his morning skincare. Sure he was a simple guy, but his skin was important. By 6:20, he was ready to get dressed, which was rather easy as he never really wore anything exciting. Plain white shirt, grey suit jacket and pants to match. No tie. This is how Mingi has been spending his mornings for the past 5 of his 25 years. This routine was rarely thrown off unless he was going through a rough patch as he had been a few months back. He didn't count that though, everyone had their moments. 

This routine kept him sane, and he liked his life to be simple and to the point. He lived alone so he never had to worry about anything in his fairly large apartment being out of place. He was living a fairly comfortable life and he loved that. 

This morning, he was not finding the same peace in the monotony, though. His boss had called him to come to visit his office this morning at work, and that could only mean he was getting a large case. Mingi worked as an agent at one of the best agencies in Korea. His work life vastly contrasted the simple darks and greys of his home life, but he found it rewarding all the same. Mingi was anxious just thinking about what he would have to be doing for his boss this time. When he got personal calls, they took a lot out of him and he was hoping that maybe his boss would give him something less taxing just this once. He doubted it though. 

Mingi was out the door by 7. His ride to work took about an hour as he caught public transportation. Much better than driving. _It's for a healthier environment_ he would respond whenever his co-workers questioned his lack of a car. 

Mingi walked into his boss’s office at 8:30 am exactly. He looked around at the room in which he was very familiar with. Pictures littered almost all of the wall space that was not already occupied by the floor to ceiling windows. Each picture contained a smiling picture of his boss shaking hands with some important officials. All of them were ego pieces, but Mingi thought that fit the room of the man who sat at the desk in the middle of the space. He turned his attention to the man to be greeted with a tight smile and kind eyes. 

“Song Mingi, I’m so glad you could make it.” The man said with a commanding, but friendly tone. Mingi chuckled at his statement. 

“I’d be here whether I could make it or not, boss.” The man’s old eyes crinkled into crescents as he smiled wide at Mingi. 

“And that, my dear Mingi, is why you’re my favorite,” The man stood from his desk and walked around to the front of it, leaning against the sturdy top, made of what mingi could only assume was very expensive mahogany, “ you take this job seriously.”

Mingi wanted to roll his eyes, of course, he takes it seriously. He couldn’t afford to not. 

“Take a seat, Mingi. We are waiting for someone.” 

Mingi did as he was told and sat in one of the tall matching mahogany chairs in front of his boss.

“Someone? Boss, if you’re pairing me up for a mission again i-”

The door slammed open to show the face of a very innocent looking boy. Mingi was sure he’d seen the man around before, but he wasn’t sure who he was. The man didn’t look too concerned about interrupting their conversation. Mingi was already annoyed by him. 

“Jeong Yunho! Only five minutes late? That must be a new record.” Jeong Yunho. He definitely knew that name.

“Well, I couldn’t leave you waiting for too long Eden. Not when you told me it was _so_ important.” Yunho seemed to be ignoring his presence as he walked into the room, holding an iced coffee. 

“Mingi, this is Yunho. Yunho, Mingi.” Yunho finally turned attention to Mingi and flashed him a brilliant smile. He still stood, towering over Mingi which was making him extremely uncomfortable, so he stood. Yunho reached his hand unoccupied out for Mingi to grab, and Mingi accepted warily. 

“What did I do to earn a meeting with KQ’s favorite stick in the mud agent?” Yunho said with fake sweetness. So he was exactly like the rumors said. Annoying. 

“Wow, Charming.” Mingi bit back. 

“Retract your claws boys, please. I can’t have you two doing this on your mission.” their boss whined. 

“Eden, what do you mean ‘you two’?” Yunho turned his death stare from Mingi to their boss. Mingi followed, not liking where his boss was going with this meeting. 

He sighed. “I need you two to work together on an undercover investigation. Now before you go all-”

"Boss please, you know I don’t work with others! And I'll be damned if you’re gonna pair me with this unprofessional idiot.” Mingi interrupted.

He had heard of a Jeong Yunho who was a complete nuisance of an agent, constantly going off doing what he wanted when on missions. Sure, he got the job done, but he was always doing _something_ that was completely unnecessary and way unprofessional. He heard stories of him seducing targets, getting drunk on the job, and befriending the people he would later have to arrest anyway. He caused too much commotion. And he was reckless. When Yunho went on a job you’d expect to hear reports of unnecessary amounts of casualties. Mingi could never work alongside someone so...Infuriating. 

“Wow, now who's charming? Look, Eden, I’m not down for this either. I could never be caught working with some prude. That would completely ruin my image.” 

“Oh, fuck off!”

“SHUT UP!” Their boss snapped. Mingi instantly straightened up, while Yunho just quietly took another sip of his iced coffee. 

“Jesus, fuck. Okay, I’m not here for this lone wolf agenda you two have going on. I’m aware you both ‘work alone’,” Eden glared at both boys, “but this is a very important case. This involves Kim Hongjoong.” Mingi's head perked up at the name, as did Yunho's. Kim Hongjoong was one of the most elusive and dangerous criminals in South Korea at the moment. Anyone would kill to work on a case involving him. 

“Oh, I see I should’ve just started with that. Please sit down, both of you, so I can brief you.”

Mingi followed his order, but not without sending a quick glare Yunho’s way. Yunho soon followed, ignoring Mingi. 

“Okay. As you both know, anything involving Kim Hongjoong is extremely dangerous. This however will not be entirely too dangerous. I just need you two too slip into one of his poker games and gain information on this upcoming drug shipment we have caught wind of. If we can bust this, we can finally capture some of his men.” Eden stared at the men to make sure they were listening, and both were hanging on his every word. He rested his chin on his folded hands. 

“Now comes in the problem of getting you both _into_ this poker game.” He paused. The unsure look on his face made Mingi worried. Yunho didn't seem to pick up on his hesitance. 

“Are either of you aware of a place called Star 1117?” Mingi scoffed when Yunho perked up. 

“Of course I do. It’s only the most prestigious gay bar in Seoul.” Mingi chuckled. 

“Done your research have you?”

“Anyway,” Eden glared at them, “ This is where Hongjoong hosts these games. I can get you two into the game and the company is going to cover the buy-in, but there’s only one complication.” Mingi didn't like the sound of that. 

“These games are run by him and his husband, and they are only open to gay ‘power couples’.” Mingi _really_ didn't like the sound of that. 

“Wait, Eden where are you going with this?” Yunho spoke up from beside him. Their boss turned to face Yunho. 

“I’m going to need you and Mingi to go undercover as an up and coming ‘power couple’ ready to dip their toes into business with Hongjoong’s organization.” 

“And what makes you think I'll go along with this, especially with him?!” Mingi spoke up. He’d rather be beheaded than have to pretend to be in love with Yunho. Eden smirked at Mingi’s remark like he had anticipated this reaction. 

“Because if you two pull this off, your ranks will Skyrocket within this company.” Mingi could almost feel the man next to him start to buzz with excitement. 

“Eden, you didn't have to go through such an elaborate scheme to just tell me you wanted to promote me.” Yunho’s words dripped honey and definitely wasn’t a tone he was supposed to have with the man that paid his bills. His boss laughed at it anyway. They must talk like this often. Mingi couldn’t understand how a man he respected so much could just let Yunho talk to him like that. 

“So will you do this? So far I only need you two to do this once. Get in, play the game, get the intel, get out.” Mingi rolled his eyes and looked over at Yunho, who was already staring at him with a smirk playing at his lips. He wanted so bad to smack that smug look off his face. Instead, he just huffed. 

“As long as Mingi doesn’t get in my way, I’m fine with it. I’ve been needing to renovate my kitchen.” 

“In your way? Funny." Mingi turned his attention back to Eden, who was already beaming at him."I'll consider it, boss.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” He reached into his desk to pull out two files and handed them to each man, “These files contain more details on the case, your identities, and a little backstory about your ‘company’. Study these over and meet me back here at 3 pm today. Do not be late.” He turned his stare to Yunho as he said the last part of his speech. 

"I'll be sure to tell the little 16-year-old who makes my coffee to be faster just for you, Eden." The man exhaled deeply but smirked nonetheless. 

"I trust you two with this. Don't let me down." He looked between the two of them with a worried look. This was going to be a disaster. "Now leave before I have an aneurysm." 

Mingi got out of his seat as fast as he could, giving a polite bow to his boss before practically running out of the door. The thought of working alongside Yunho made him irrationally angry, especially having to pretend to be in love with him. 

The sound of boots stomping behind him pulled him out of his enraged thoughts. Mingi stopped abruptly, and the footsteps did as well. 

"Jeong Yunho, what do you want?" Mingi turned around to face the man. He was much closer than Mingi thought he was. As if he could detect that the proximity made him uncomfortable, he came closer. His expression was mischievous and Mingi hated it. 

"Remember Song Mingi, this is a mission. Don't fall in love with me," Yunho's expression turned intense as his eyes flicked down to Mingi's lips for a split second. Mingi missed this though, as he was too focused on wanting to escape. He backed away from Yunho subconsciously. Yunho met his gaze as he continued," I'm not responsible if your heart gets broken."

Mingi regained his composure and nearly spat in Yunho's face. "Don't worry, you're not my type anyway." 

With that Mingi backed away fully and stormed down the company hallway. Fuck this stupid job. 

  
  



	2. Test Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingi isn't sure this is going to work out for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii I know I'm publishing this pretty soon after the first chapter but I want to get the beginning stuff out of the way as quickly as possible so I can get the good stuff. This isn't my best writing but I hope you enjoy anyway!!

Mingi was sure he despised his boss. Not only had their three pm meeting started at  _ four fucking thirty  _ because Yunho was late, but he also didn't get scolded or even reprimanded for his tardiness. Of course, the boss had favorites, but how Yunho became one of them was beyond Mingi's comprehension. The  _ four-thirty  _ pm meeting wasn't exactly a meeting either. You see their boss thought that it would be in their best interests to get some practice in pretending to love and, well, know each other before he sent them any further with the mission. When he explained this, Mingi sighed for what had to be the tenth time that day. 

"You two will be accompanying me to a small mixer I'm having tonight with some mid-level officials and businessmen. They are calling us to discuss possible security arrangements and I want you two there to show them how talented our agents are. And like I said, it'll be great practice." Mingi felt like his head was going to explode. He barely had time to process this and now he was going to get thrown right into the fire, and Yunho was supposed to be the person he would have to rely on. He turned to face Yunho who barely seemed interested in the conversation at all and was staring at his nails. 

"Yunho I know you're a pretty good improviser so I assume you'll do okay tonight right?" Their boss asked, seemingly unperturbed by Yunho's nonchalant appearance. Yunho scoffed. 

"Eden, come on, I could do something like this with my eyes closed." He looked up from his nails to give the boss a wink. Mingi felt his stomach turn. Yunho made him feel sick. 

"Mingi, I will ask that you take control of this situation. Yes, Yunho Is a great liar, but these are people I want to keep in business with us so please keep Yunho on a tight leash and-"

"Oh, fuck you." The boss ignored his outburst.

"And keep him out of trouble. I trust you'll be able to handle this?" Mingi turned his attention back to the slightly taller boy who was looking at him with a pout. For some reason the pout made him… angry, so he turned away. 

"Yes, boss." The man smiled at that. 

"Perfect. You two please give me about uh.." their boss turned to the clock on the wall to check the time. 

"Give me about twenty minutes and then we can head out. I need to gather some files and other papers from the research and the finance department. Stay here." He made his way swiftly to the door before turning back to the two standing in the middle of the room. 

"Please behave." 

Mingi had never seen their boss look so stressed before. Of course, it had to be Yunho that stressed him out; the guy was crazy. Their boss closed the door behind him and now stood the two in silence. Mingi walked to a chair and sat, not wanting to stand for 20 minutes. Yunho followed suit, taking the chair on the other side of the room. A quiet and uncomfortable tension settled in the room. Mingi thought maybe he could get away without having to talk to Yunho for 20 minutes, but God had no such plans for him. 

"So why are you such a pain in the ass?" Yunho asked sweetly as if he didn't just insult him. 

"Me the pain in the ass? Big talk from the guy who was already late twice today." Yunho laughed at that. Why is he laughing? His sickly sweet laugh made Mingi's stomach uneasy. He was so strange. 

"You're no fun Mingi. You sit there all stuck up and boring. That must be why you've only got one friend in the whole organization." 

Ouch. That kind of hurt. Sure, Mingi wasn't the most sociable but he tried his best to get along with those who didn't provoke him. It wasn't his fault that everyone but Choi Jongho provoked him. Mingi stayed quiet, not sure how to respond to the shot at his pride. Yunho looked at him and furrowed his brows for a split second. Mingi was too busy staring holes into the floor to notice. 

"Jongho is everyone's friend though so I'm not surprised he got to you. I don't know what he sees that's so appealing." Yunho's eyes flashed a mischievous look, seemingly a challenge. 

Mingi suddenly thought of a comeback and said it without much thought. 

"Maybe it's the fact that I do my job without running off with every target to get my rocks off." As the words left his mouth, he saw Yunho's face drop. The mischievous glint no longer danced in his eyes and was instead replaced with..hurt? Oh. Maybe that was too far. But he started. If he couldn't handle a few harsh words, then he shouldn't dish out insults. Besides, he had heard the rumors. Yunho was notorious for being flirty and apparently taking it up a notch on the job. Mingi kept his eyes on Yunho, though. It shouldn't have, but the expression on his face made Mingi's chest hurt. 

Yunho looked away and took his phone out. His demeanor was completely changed. He was entirely closed off now, and mingi was sure that he wouldn't talk to him for a while. At least he wouldn't bother him anymore while they waited for Eden to come back; still, the guilt pooled in his stomach. 

When Eden returned, it had been thirty minutes instead, but Mingi was starting to get used to people being late. Eden explained to them that tonight they didn't have a specific task other than convincing people they were dating and making the company look good. Their boss seemed completely oblivious to the new negative tension in the room as he rambled on about the clients and their expectations. Yunho was barely paying attention to the boss's words once again but nodded every now and then. It convinced Eden and before either of them noticed, they were making their way to the limo.

The three men stepped out of the Limo at around six-thirty pm. The building they were about to walk into was a fairly ritzy hotel and the party is being held in its ballroom. Mingi felt like he could throw up any second. Mingi was naturally anxious, and the tall building with fancy interior decorations made him feel small. As they walked into the lobby, he felt his heart racing. He didn't know if he could do this. 

Eden turned to the boys and put on his best business smile. 

"Okay kids, remember. Dating, in love, amazing agents. Got it?" Yunho, who had miraculously shaken off his attitude as soon as they stepped in the building nodded his head. Eden clapped and made his way to the ballroom, signaling the boys to follow him. Mingi felt incredibly stiff as they walked behind him. Mingi wasn't sure how to act in this situation. He usually didn't care what big-wigs thought of him because the ones he usually interacted with would end up in jail shortly anyway. These guys were allies. He couldn't mess this up. 

"Mingi, relax, they aren't going to eat you," Yunho was close to his ear, making him jump, "be cool." 

They were now walking into the ballroom and Yunho snaked his arm around Mingi's waist. Mingi had to fight the urge to recoil from his grasp as now they were directly in front of the crowd they were trying to fool. This was going to be a long, long night. 

  
  
  


"Did you know that I actually met Mingi on my first day on the job? He was there with the other trainees and I couldn't help but stare as he continuously got his ass beat by the younger boys."

"My ass beat?! I was the best fighter there!"

"Oh sure. The best fighter who just got his ass kicked a lot?"

\----

"He's a total pain in the ass, he won't even cook me hangover soup after a night out!"

"Well maybe I would if you were such a brat when you're drunk" 

"Oh so are you not denying it,  _ baby _ ?" 

\----

"He's got one of the flattest asses I've ever seen. I don't know what I see in him-" 

"I swear to god Yunho!"

\----

  
  


The night was a disaster for Mingi. Yunho had completely taken the lead and decided that he was tonight's storyteller. Lie after lie painted him in such an embarrassing light and it was starting to get to him. On top of his painful fabrications, Yunho kept touching him; way more than necessary. His hand would travel from his waist to his arm, to his shoulder, and finally, he would rest it on Mingi's neck. He played with Mingi's hair and would "accidentally" pull it. To top it all off, he kept calling him 'baby'. Mingi was completely burning all over, in anger of course. The worst part was that Yunho was clearly enjoying this. He was testing his patience to see how far he could push him. He needed air. 

Mingi excused himself from Yunho to go to the bathroom. He was driving him insane. 

At the sink, he splashed himself with water, which proved to be a bad idea now that his shirt was wet. The cold water cooled his burning skin. 

One of the many people he had talked to with Yunho came out of one of the stalls and scared the fuck out of Mingi.

_ Please don't talk to me, pleased don't talk to me, please don't- _

"Yunho seems like quite the handful!" The man said while washing his hands. Fuck. He feared his throat would give out if he spoke right now, so Mingi returned his question with a nod and a shit fake smile. That was enough to make the man think this was a conversation. 

"I remember when I was your age. My wife and I were just like you two."

Mingi scoffed internally,  _ no you weren't _ . Instead, he just smiled again. 

"I wish you two the best of luck!" 

Mingi bowed as the man exited the bathroom. 

Mingi stared at himself in the mirror. How the hell was he going to deal with this while being undercover? 

Yunho seemed to get his fill of fucking with Mingi and let him off easy the rest of the night. He still kept his hand on Mingi's waist and made teasing comments, but he assumed some level of teasing had to be normal in a real relationship. 

Mingi now was more worried about how they had performed tonight. He felt that they had failed this part of their mission already and that their boss would pull them off this one for their abysmal performance today.

Mingi's worries didn't last long, because they soon left. Once they were back in the limo the boss seemed pleased. 

"You two were the talk to the town tonight." He looked slightly less stressed than when they first left the office, but Mingi assumed that the free champagne was responsible for that. Mingi and Yunho hadn't drunk. They were technically still working, and no matter how much Yunho tried, Mingi wouldn't let either of them partake. 

"Despite the incredibly entertaining 'banter', you two did pretty well." Yunho seemed to not be surprised by this, but Mingi was. 

"Good job? He bullied me all night!" Mingi yelled. 

"Oh my god, grow a pair! That was just light teasing, you big baby!" 

Mingi turned his glare toward Yunho, ready to fire back when their boss interrupted. 

"Ah ah ah please, not in the limo," mingi retracted his metaphorical claws as both boys turned back to Eden. 

"Despite all of that, the clients were convinced. You just appeared to be one of those couples that fought instead of, you know, love each other. " Eden held in a laugh when both boys twisted up their faces up. 

"But regardless, you cannot act this way during your real mission. This is serious." Mingi rolled his eyes.  _ He  _ didn't do anything.  _ He  _ was trying to be professional.

"Don't look so worried Mingi, I do my job just fine." 

"Sure you do." 

Yunho scoffed and turned to face out the window. His attitude from earlier seemed to come back as he fumbled with his earbuds. Mingi couldn't wait for this mission to just be over. 


	3. Whiplash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yunho has Mingi confused

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Ive decided to open a twitter account mostly for updates or questions on my progress with this and any other fics ill be writing!!! If you would be interested in that or just want a new mutual my handle is @/kingjeongjeong  
> On to the story!

Mingi quickly learned that when you piss off Jeong Yunho, he burns for a while. Mingi can feel the daggers sear into the back of his head every time they pass each other; not to mention the blatant death stares right in his face anytime they are in a meeting together. Mingi would usually brush off this behavior from anyone else; he was used to people not liking him very much, but this seemed excessive. He knew Yunho hadn't really liked him at first, but this level of hatred seemed very unnecessary. It was starting to make him frustrated. 

"Jongho, do you know Jeong Yunho?" Mingi asked his best friend one day. They were laying on Mingi's couch, wrapped in a nice warm blanket, and each other, with the TV on; barely paying it any mind. Jongho worked at their company as well, and he had a much better time making friends than him, so he assumed he had at least met the guy. 

"Jeong Yunho… Oh yeah! He's really nice. Why?" Mingi scoffed. Nice? 

"Are we talking about the same guy? Tall, fluffy hair, kinda looks like a puppy?" Jongho eyed him. 

"Uh, yeah? Now that you mention it he does look like a puppy." Jongho found that revelation humorous, but Mingi didn't think anything involving Yunho was funny. 

"I can't believe he tricked you into thinking he was nice..." Mingi said with a pout. 

Why was everyone so prickly to him? Sure, he wasn't the best at conversing, but only Jongho seemed to like him. 

"Mingi, what did you say to him?" The younger was giving him a look of disappointment, which was totally misplaced. 

"Ouch! You bitch!" Mingi had kicked him in his side, which he deserved. 

"That's what you get for assuming I'm always the asshole!" 

"You usually are!"

Mingi pouted again and retracted all his limbs out of Jongho's grasp. 

"Yunho started it. He called me a stick in the mud." 

The younger didn't even try to hold in his laugh. 

"Oh, fuck you! I am so fun!" The younger boy wrapped his arms around his best friend, bringing him in for a comforting hug, still giggling slightly. 

"Yeah, I know you are, buddy. It's okay." Mingi tried to refuse the hug, but he would never really push off Jongho. Despite Mingi's standoffish appearance, he really appreciated the affection. 

"Yunho doesn't like me. Like,  _ really  _ doesn't like me. And we're supposed to be working together. I don't know what to do." Jongho held his best friend tighter. 

"It'll be okay. He's not that bad, he'll come around."

\--

Mingi wanted to punch Jongho in his face. It had been a  _ week _ and Yunho had  _ not _ come around. Even worse, today was the day. Yunho was still giving him the silent treatment with an extra special side of the cold shoulder. It was entirely frustrating and Mingi wasn't even sure what he did, but still, the show went on.

A few days prior, Mingi and Yunho had a meeting with the boss to go over the plan in better detail. 

For starters, they had to get acclimated with their new identities. They kept their first names, as it was just easier for them, but everything else was new. According to the files, Mingi and Yunho met in college. They realized they had similar passions, fell in love and the rest was history. Mingi is the strong, silent type; and Yunho was the flirty social butterfly. Now here they were, up and coming business owners, running their own company. This company was supposedly a jewelry company. The shady part was that they didn't always get their antiques through legal means. They were known for having rare, priceless pieces end up in their possession and selling them for a pretty penny among the most elite. To cover their asses and make the story believable, they dealt in foreign markets. They wouldn't have stepped foot in the Korean market until they tried to make business with Kim Hongjoong. The story was slightly complicated, but Mingi believed he could pull this off well. 

Well, he did believe at the time, but all hope for a smooth mission went out the window as Mingi stood in his room staring at the mirror. He was lost. His usual attire was not going to be suitable for this kind of thing. All he had were plain suits and this would not be a typical suit type of event. Mingi appreciated fashion, but that was a world that seemed a little too out there for him. His closet was absolutely boring. He could ask Jongho, but he was significantly smaller than him so that wouldn't work. He was just going to have to tough it out and wear a button-down and some jeans. It wasn't ideal, they were going to a very prominent club, but it would have to do. It was only one night. He could do this. 

After he got dressed, he made an attempt to call Yunho, but his call was ignored. Of course. Fine, he'd ride to the club by himself. 

_________

  
  


As usual, Mingi arrived on time and Yunho was late. It was 10:30 pm and Mingi had been standing there for 30 minutes. Mingi was starting to get anxious; there were people staring at him as he stood outside the gay club awkwardly. He looked suspicious just standing there. He was going to kill Yunho when he arrived. 

As if he could read Mingi's thoughts, Yunho's car pulled up at the valet. Yunho handed his keys to the man as he emerged from the car. Mingi's heart sank as soon as he saw him. Mingi couldn't form a coherent thought and all hopes of cursing the man out were long gone. He wore a see-through purple button-down, black skin-tight pants, and a choker that Mingi thought looked a little like a dog collar. Not to mention the man had purple eyeshadow on his lids. He looked ethereal. Or maybe just really hot. He'd never admit that though. Mingi tried to compose himself as Yunho approached him. He was snapped out of his daze by the look of disgust on Yunho's face. 

"Hey, businessman, are you late for a meeting?" Yunho said a couple of feet away. Mingi knew his outfit wasn't the best, but next to Yunho he would look like a fool. He felt the heat start to creep up his face as Yunho scrutinized his outfit. 

"You need help. Badly." Yunho still seemed to have a bit of an attitude towards him, but it seemed significantly less aggressive. Maybe because they  _ had _ to talk to each other tonight in order for this to work. 

"What do you mean? I look… fine?" He flinched at the insecure tone in his voice. The taller man's eyes flitted up and down his figure before meeting his eyes to give him a disapproving look. Before he could defend himself farther, Yunho grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the club entrance. 

"C'mon were already late, and I've got to fix you up."

"You're the one who showed up 30 minutes past our agreed meeting time." Yunho scoffed, still pulling him along.

"Perfection takes time. You wouldn't understand." 

"Ouch, my soul."

They presented their names to the bouncer and they were let in no problem.

Once in the bathroom, Yunho pushed him against the sink and took a step back to inspect what he was working with. Mingi felt self-conscious under his gaze and squirmed a little. 

"First, unbutton the shirt." 

Mingi rolled his eyes but did as he was told. He unbuttoned the first two buttons, but Yunho shook his head, signaling he needed to continue. Yunho didn't let him stop until he had unbuttoned at least 5. Mingi felt naked and he was sure his ears were bright red. 

Then, Yunho pulled a little pouch out from God knows where and started to approach him. The closer he got, the more and more aware he became of just how attractive he was. He had always known the man wasn't ugly, but something about the way Yunho looked in purple made it more obvious. 

"W-what are you doing?" Mingi felt his heart start to pick up once he was once again backed into the sink. Yunho hovered over him and inspected his face, way too close for comfort. 

"You need a smokey eye. Let me." Yunho demanded as he took out what Mingi assumed was whatever makeup would give him a smokey eye. Mingi once again was unable to form a coherent thought and nodded. Yunho placed his hand gently on the side of Mingi's face as he began to apply the eyeshadow. The contact heated his skin. He stared at Yunho's focused face hovering over him. Mingi's stomach turned to knots as he focused on the man's features, but he didn't get to stare long, as Yunho's voice interrupted his thoughts telling him to close his eyes. Yunho's touch was extremely gentle on his face and Mingi thought he might go insane. He didn't want to think too much into why he was reacting like this, all from Yunho, and he just assumed it was just pent up frustration from not getting laid in a while. It had nothing to do with  _ Yunho _ , just that he was a guy and he wasn't ugly. Plain as that. 

"Okay, open" Mingi opened his eyes and they met Yunho's. Mingi felt a tingle down his spine as he watched Yunho this close. He was too caught up in his proximity to notice Yunho's gaze flick to his lips for a split second. 

With that, Yunho cleared his throat, breaking the tension. He backed up from Mingi and gestured toward the large mirror on the wall behind the sink. 

"What do you think?"

Mingi turned to look and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't much, just a little makeup, but he looked considerably better. 

"Better. Good. Thank you."

He prayed this would be enough to convince the patrons, and Hongjoong's gang, that they were really just here for a party and some poker. 

"Alright come on. They're probably waiting for us." Yunho said. Mingi met his eyes in the mirror, but Yunho looked away swiftly and made his way to the door. Yunho's cold demeanor had returned, causing Mingi's heart to drop a little.

"Fine." Mingi stomped behind the slightly taller man as they exited the bathroom. Once they entered the main part of the club, they were overtaken by sweaty bodies and the smell of fairly expensive alcohol. Mingi was way out of his element, but Yunho seemed to be loosening up. For a little while, the man swung his hips to the music. Mingi would have urged him to stop getting distracted if he wasn't distracted himself. Yunho's movements were smooth and very experienced. 

The slow sensual song blasting through the speakers seemed to surround him.

Yunho's gaze met his once again and the look in his eyes was scary. Mingi couldn't pinpoint what it was, but it made his stomach drop. Yunho was definitely a different person once he was in his element. The change in his mood was giving Mingi whiplash.

Yunho reached out for his hand before speaking.

"You're staring." Yunho's tone had a seductive lilt to it, causing a shiver to run down his spine. Mingi accepted the hand.

"You're getting distracted." 

Yunho chuckled at that, bringing Mingi's hand to his side, "I'm not distracted, I'm dancing. If we just barged in there without having some fun, the trip would be a waste." He said as if it was common sense and that the whole reason they came in the first place was just to have fun. 

"Let's just go, I think they're in the back of the club." 

"Awww you're no fun." Despite his words, Yunho took the lead and pulled the man along to the back of the club by his hand. Mingi wanted to tell the man to stop holding his hand, but this was a part of the job. 

Once again they were met by a man guarding a door. This man looked different than the one out front, though. He had a lean frame, jet black hair, and was wearing a blue velvet dress shirt. The velvet texture made him look very expensive, and he stood with the confidence of a man with no fear. Mingi knew he had to be important. 

As they approached, the man was chatting with a few men who were also on their way inside the room where they would be playing. He seemed calm and gentle and had a friendly smile on his face. Once his eyes met the two who were approaching, the smile faltered a little. His eyes traveled to their intertwined hands and then back up to their faces. 

"Hey, sorry, this is VIP only, boys." The man's voice was just like his shirt, but it was also confrontational. This made him slightly nervous. He did not want any drama to occur here, so the thought that this guy might be hostile was unsettling. 

Before he could say anything, Yunho took the lead once again. 

"Oh, and are we not very important people?" The smirk was evident in his voice as he stared the man down. 

"Well that depends, who are you?" The man now wore an expression of amusement. Yunho seemed to have an effect on people that disarmed them. It was fascinating to watch. 

"Kim Yunho. This is my boyfriend, Lee Mingi." 

The word "boyfriend" sent an uncomfortable shiver down Mingi's spine. The thought of actually dating Yunho made his stomach turn. 

"Is that so?" The man in blue looked at them with a pensive gaze, seemingly trying to pick apart if they were lying or not. 

"What? Are we more handsome than you thought we'd be?" This caused the man to chuckle, and he reached out to shake Yunho's, then Mingi's. 

"Park Seonghwa, " The man said back, "Well, actually I'm a Kim now." Mingi gazed at the ring on the man's left hand and it clicked in his head. Just as he realized who the man was, Yunho squeezed his hand, letting him know he knew too.

"Ah, you're Hongjoong's husband then." The man, Seonghwa, smiled when he heard his husband's name. 

"Yes, I am. You two are here for the game correct?" 

"We sure are. We've got a few propositions for you and your husband." 

Seonghwa nodded and opened the door for them to enter. "Wooyoung is at the end of the hall, he'll show you to the table." 

The two boys looked at each other with a look of understanding. Beyond this point they had to focus. Mingi was less than hopeful that Yunho would keep them out of trouble, but he was willing to pick up whatever pieces as long as the job got done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the pacing is a bit off. I didnt want this chapter to be too long and the good stuff really starts happening in the next chapter. Please look forward to it, it should be out before next monday! Again, check me out on twitter @/kingjeongjeong


	4. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things head south

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey... hey yall... hi... yeah I don't have an excuse, just enjoy.

Mingi was very confused about this guy Wooyoung. He seemed way too cheerful to be in a place like this, and he seemed to have a watchdog trailing behind him. Wooyoung had shown them where they needed to be, all the while chatting and giggling with Yunho (who never seemed to struggle with making friends). But the watchdog, which was just a man about the same height as Wooyoung, kept his eyes fixed on the both of them and never left Wooyoung's side. It was extremely confusing. Was Wooyoung so important he needed a bodyguard? He'd have to consider that if things went sideways.

As the four men walked through the threshold, all thoughts about the small man and his companion left his mind. He finally laid eyes on the man they were here for; Kim Hongjoong. 

To say the man was glorious was an understatement. He had bright silver hair with silver earrings to match and wore all black, including his nails. His outfit was topped off with a long luxurious white fluffy coat. He had the aura of money and power. If Mingi hadn't known what the man looked like, he would've been able to guess just from his appearance. 

Kim Hongjoong sat at the large poker table in the middle of the room as he scanned the rest of the men in the room. Mingi felt adrenaline rush through his body. He and Hongjoong made eye contact. The man had a wild look in his eyes and he seemed to be watching Mingi and his partner just as hard and he was watching him. Mingi tore his eyes away to look at the man still holding his hand.

Yunho completely missed their interaction as he was still occupied making conversation with Wooyoung. The two seemed to be getting along really well, which was annoying to him. This kind of recklessness would be exactly what would get them in trouble. Getting too close to these people was never good news. Mingi decided to take the matter into his own hands. 

He detached his hand from Yunho's and brought it to the man's waist. He spun him around to look him in the eyes. For a split second, Mingi saw a look of surprise on Yunho. He decided he enjoyed having the upper hand. 

Mingi pulled Yunho flush to his body as the man in his arms grew red from Mingi's sudden actions. He leaned into the side of his face to whisper in Yunho's ear. 

"Hongjoong is at the table. It's showtime." Mingi pulled back from his ear. The face that greeted him was no longer shocked or surprised, but he could feel Yunho's heart start to beat harder at the mention of Hongjoong. Was he nervous? 

The expression on his face said he wasn’t though, as he wore a look of mischief and excitement. Yunho reached his arms around Mingi's neck and rested them there. He tried to push down the heat in his cheeks as Yunho stared him straight in the eyes, challenging him. 

"Well then darling, let's introduce ourselves." His voice sent chills down Mingi's spine. 

Yunho let his arm flop back to his side and grabbed Mingi’s hand again, averting his attention to the table in question. Yunho too made eye contact with Hongjoong, and he smiled at the man as a greeting. He seemed taken aback by Yunho but smiled back nonetheless. Mingi started to think that maybe tonight would be easy. 

The two made their way to the table to greet the man when Yunho noticed how many people, couples, were there. The room was big and the couples going about their business and waiting for the game to start occupied a fairly large amount of the area. The table was big, neither man could fathom how all of these men could fit at it. 

"You two are new, correct?" Hongjoong addressed them with a smile as they approached. Straightforward; Mingi could handle this. 

"Yeah. I'm Mingi, and this is my business partner and boyfriend, Yunho. We decided to branch out a bit." He seemed to be satisfied with that answer and nodded. He then turned to face Yunho, to who he addressed his next question. 

"Branch out, huh? You guys would know a lot about that," he raised a glass of whatever alcoholic beverage to his lips and took a swig, "were the American markets not giving you enough? Or did you just miss the homeland?"

Hongjoong seemed to know exactly who they were, but that wasn't surprising as he probably kept tabs on all business clients.

Yunho smirked as he replied to the man.

"We noticed you were making strides here, so how could we miss an opportunity to grow our business." 

Hongjoong once again seemed to appreciate their answers. Mingi was pleased that Hongjoong seems easy enough to get along with. Maybe they could get information from him quicker than they thought. 

Hongjoong gestured for the two men to sit in two seats a few away from him. 

Once they are seated, Yunho removed his hand from Mingi's and laid it on his thigh. Mingi, shocked, kicks him in the shin as a way of asking what the  _ hell _ he was doing. All he received in response was a hard squeeze to his thigh, with a lot of nail digging in. Mingi tried to regain his composure, as to not draw attention to his uncomfortable situation. 

"So, how long have you been looking to expand your business here to Korea?" Hongjoong was staring at them with a look he couldn't necessarily place. 

"Just a few months. We heard from a few of our overseas clients about you. They raved about how professional and efficient you and your guys are. You must be working hard then?" Yunho answered back without hesitation. Mingi found it impressive that his brain worked so fast. 

Hongjoong let another smile grace his face.

"Oh yes. Almost non-stop. These games are one of the few things I have time to do for leisure recently. You get that though; business first."

Yunho started rubbing circles on Mingi's thigh with his thumb, which led to Mingi jolting a bit, surprised at the sudden movement. Yunho turned to face Mingi, facing away from Hongjoong, and gave Mingi a stern face. To mask this interaction, he reached towards Mingi's face and pulled off an imaginary eyelash, blowing it in the wind. While he was still facing him he mouthed, ' _ stop fucking squirming. _ ' Something about that sent an entire field of butterflies directly to Mingi's stomach. 

Yunho turned back to face the man of the hour with a sickly sweet smile, which didn't seem fake or forced to him. 

"We do. My Mingi is always so stressed, he puts in extra time to make sure everything is perfect," Yunho looks back at Mingi, this time with a much more believable smile," so that I can enjoy myself." 

Mingi felt his body seemingly react on its own as he reached forward to move a stray piece of hair out of Yunho's face. His fingertips burned when they made contact with his face. He looked Yunho in the eye for a second, before slowly retracting his hand. Yunho looked surprised once again, but that quickly changed to an expression of amusement. 

"Hey, boss, are you gonna start the game soon?" Mingi and Yunho both snapped their gaze away from each other and to the voice. It belonged to the man from the hallway, Wooyoung. The other man was still trailing behind him and he seemed even more on edge around so many people. Mingi has never seen a bodyguard be so… on guard. Something was strange about him. 

"Oh yes, so sorry. I got distracted. You and San can go round up everyone, and tell Hwa that I'd appreciate it if he tended bar tonight. Our usual bartender had a little bit of an accident." Hongjoong spoke to Wooyoung with a soft voice. 

Wooyoung nodded and headed off back in the direction of the hallway where Seonghwa was stationed at the end of. Hongjoong turned his attention back to the two men as he stood up to start setting up the table. 

"We will have to chat later. Good luck." He gave the boys a wink and started situating the table. 

Ten minutes later, Mingi found himself with a few cards in his hands, random men sitting on each side of him, and Yunho's standing behind him, arms wrapped around him and peering over his shoulder, looking at his cards. The two had learned that in this game, both partners could not play. It would "give them double the chance of winning" which many in the past had complained about, so Hongjoong adjusted the rules. Mingi, who was pretty adept at card games, was the chosen one of the two to play the game. 

Mingi wasn't a Gambler, but he did get a wave of adrenaline sitting at the table. Yunho, who had to find other ways to occupy his time, decided it would be fun to fuck with Mingi while he played his game. It didn't look suspicious as many of the other men stuck near their partners, but it was bothering Mingi. Yunho's presence was making it hard for him to focus on the game. 

He stared down at the cards in his hands when he felt Yunho's hot breath graze his ear, sending an uncomfortable shiver down his spine. 

"Seonghwa is watching us, we have to play this up," Yunho whispered in his ear. He then moved his hands from their resting position around his neck to his hair, playing with it lightly. Mingi felt challenged by Yunho's words and decided that yes,  _ he _ did have to play it up. 

He reached up to grab one of the hands playing his hair and brought it back down to his chest, intertwining their fingers together. He then looked up at Yunho, staring him straight in the eyes, and said, "My good luck charm."

A few seats down the man from earlier, Wooyoung, let out a high pitched squeak. Mingi didn't pay it any mind as he turned his attention back to the cards. 

Eventually, Mingi won a game with a pretty impressive hand, a full house. When Mingi stood up to collect his chips, Yunho placed his hand on Mingi's lower back and leaned back into his ear again. "Lose the next round" he whispered, subtly motioning his eyes towards a man who seemed to be becoming angry at his losing streak. Mingi nodded and patted his cheek to make the interaction seem more affectionate. 

The man who had been losing finally won a game, which filled him with enough confidence to address Hongjoong. No one else at the table had done during the game. It seemed to be an unspoken rule that you didn't interrupt his focus, but this guy seemed to have forgotten. 

“Hongjoong! How’s your plan for KQ going? Need a guy to do some recon for you? I can be very sneaky you know!” The man finished his statement with a hearty laugh, but Mingi could only feel his heart drop. He felt Yunho go still around him. Plan for KQ? What did that mean? The room had fallen silent. Mingi watched as Hongjoong’s focused face turned into a smile. 

“Someone’s eager eh?” The man said. His voice sounded dangerous, but the man didn't notice; he was to hyped up on his euphoria from winning a hand. Mingi turned his attention to the man’s partner. He was by the bar with Seonghwa after the man had made a rude comment to him in a fit of anger. 

“Hwa, could you take Mr. Lee back to my office to discuss some things with him? He seems to want to learn a few things.” 

Mingi could tell that meant something bad and shivered once he saw the look in Seonghwa’s eyes. He had gone completely cold as he gestured for the man to follow him. Mr. Lee followed him with a cocky stride. He had no idea what he had done. 

The room remained silent for a while after the two disappeared. Hongjoong smiled at the rest of the men at the table before speaking. “Let us start our next game fellas!”

While the cards were being dealt with, a loud sound rang through the area. Mingi recognized the sound immediately, a gunshot. Yunho jumped at the sound and tightened his grip around Mingi’s shoulders. Instinctively, he grabbed one of Yunho’s hands, trying to comfort him. 

“Don’t mind the noise fellas. Just a hiccup,” Hongjoong said calmly. Mingi looked over to the man at the bar who’s partner had just presumably been shot and noticed he looked relieved. Shortly, Seonghwa returned to the bar in a completely different shirt, and now with a gun in his belt. What the hell was happening tonight. 

Mingi and Yunho tried to play the game successfully without being too suspicious as they now knew how Hongjoong would handle them if they stood out too much. Neither of them could knock the concern they had around the mysterious “plan” Hongjoong supposedly had for KQ. What the hell could that mean, and how much did he know about them? 

As the game wrapped up, Seonghwa gestured Yunho back to the bar. Mingi felt his heart rate speed up as he began to worry for him, but he seemed to be fine. Seonghwa was laughing with him, which wasn’t a surprise. Shortly, Hongjoong approached Mingi at the table.

“Good game today, you and Yunho should come around more often.” The man spoke to him in a genuine tone, and Mingi almost let his guard down for a second. Almost. 

“I’m thinking we might. Besides, we didn't get to talk today. I’m sure you’ve got a few things to handle now.” Hongjoong seemed to find that funny. “Oh yes, my hands will be full tonight.” He looked towards where Seonghwa took the man earlier with an annoyed face. “Some things are better off not said.” He turned his attention back to Mingi, still holding the annoyed expression. 

“I hope you and Yunho have a less stressful night than me and Seonghwa. Rest, I’m sure you two deserve it.” Mingi might have genuinely smiled at that comment, but he wouldn’t tell anyone, ever. 

“We will. Have a safe night.” Mingi waved goodbye to the man and made his way over to the bar to fetch Yunho. When he got there, he and Seonghwa were still chatting, looking like they had been friends forever. 

“Hey, love.” Mingi cringed at the nickname internally as he slid his arm around Yunho’s waist. Seonghwa looked at the two of them and smiled. “Sorry for stealing your boyfriend, just wanted to gossip a little.” Yunho looked at Mingi with a thankful gaze. He grabbed Mingi’s hand that was on his waist and Mingi could feel that he was shaking. Mingi took that as his cue to get them out of there as quickly as possible. 

“That’s no problem at all Seonghwa! If you don’t mind, I’m gonna take him home now. He’s got to go into the office early tomorrow.” Seonghwa gave them another big smile. “Don’t let me stop you two from getting your rest! Have a goodnight!” The two nodded and made their way back towards the mysterious hallway, Mingi’s arm still around Yunho. 

Once they finally made it out of the club, they felt dread come down on them tenfold.

“Hey, Mingi?” “Yeah, Yunho?” “What the fuck are we going to do?”

Mingi had no clue. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a reminder that if you wanna chat or keep up with me I have a Twitter!! follow me @/kingjeongjeong


	5. Fuck, I'm Lonely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reminder!! if you want updates on how my writing is going, please follow me on Twitter at kingjeongjeong. I'd really appreciate it! also, check out the playlist for this story! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3R7AoyXMbfA1jkH5sph9yA?si=p0mBD7ThTAOpoku7MrFvZw

The events of Hongjoong’s poker game weighed heavily on Mingi and Yunho. The next morning they walked into the KQ building feeling dread for what they had to tell their boss. They walked into Eden’s office with a tense air surrounding them.  
“Hey, how did the game go fellas?” He seemed to sense the tension. That could be nothing good.  
“Eden, everyone could be in danger. Hongjoong is planning something.” Yunho spoke with a quiver. Mingi looked at him, but Yunho kept his gaze focused on their boss.  
“Yunho what do you mean? What did he say?” Eden stood from his desk. Yunho looked away from him and at Mingi, passing the buck to him.  
“One of the guys at this game said Hongjoong had a plan for KQ. This was top secret and he ended up being… disposed of.” Mingi did his best to answer with no emotion, but he was genuinely concerned. If Hongjoong had something planned, then it would cause problems. They couldn’t play around, they would have to get to him first.  
Eden quickly realized that standing wasn't the best idea once his head started spinning and sat back down.  
“So, what you’re telling me is that I sent you two to go find out about drugs and you come back with a death threat?” the two nodded. Eden looked exhausted. “Okay, so you know what this means, right?”  
“We strike first-”  
“We relocate-” They spoke at the same time. Yunho whipped his head around at Mingi and stared at him.  
“How could you suggest we go after him?! He’s got so much power, if we strike first we’re  
going to end up dead!” Yunho screamed a Mingi.  
“Oh, and you think moving somewhere else is going to help?! What if he has access to our files already! What if he knows our company's patterns!”  
“If you’re so smart then find a solution that won’t get me and my friends killed! I guess you wouldn’t be concerned for the others, it’s not like any of them like you anyway!” The office fell silent. Mingi could feel whatever empathy he previously felt for Yunho, leave. Holding back tears, Mingi stormed out of His boss’s office.  
Yunho however, stayed in Eden’s office.  
“Yunho, that was too much.” “As if I care. He doesn’t care about me so why should I care about his feelings?” Eden sighed. “Well, I can’t have you two continue this if you’re going to be doing my information retrieval.” Yunho looked at his boss. What did he just say? “I’m sorry,” Yunho surely didn't hear that right, “we’re doing what now?”  
“Did you think you two would come into my office talking about a plot against us and I'd simply end the mission there?” Yunho was more than irritated. He thought this would be a one-time thing. Not only did he want to work alone, but he hated Mingi’s attitude. “Eden please, I can’t keep this up with him! We’re incompatible as partners, I can’t do this forever!”  
“I only need you two to play nice until you get his trust. After you get a bit more information I’ll cut the operation okay?” Yunho decided that it was his turn to storm out. 

When Mingi heard the news that he had to pretend to be Yunho's boyfriend again and multiple more times until they got enough information to create a real plan, he almost lost it. He had been sitting with his best friend Jongho in the company cafeteria when he got the text from Eden and he nearly flipped the table in frustration.  
“He HATES me! Why else would he do this!?” “Maybe because you two are already established as semi-trust worthy and it would be near impossible to get someone else into that circle at this point?” Mingi glared up at Jongho from across the table. “No one asked for your logic, Jongho.” Mingi pouted. He didn't want this, he wanted to go back to the simple missions he had before, low profile but intense, not a long-winded undercover mission. Going undercover once or twice for a mission wasn’t that bad, but knowing they’d have to do this for a while put Mingi through a lot of stress.  
“This would be a little more manageable if I didn't have to do this with Yunho. He doesn’t respect or like me. I don’t understand why! I’ve never done anything to him.” Jongho looked at him sympathetically, “But you must have, he’s super nice to me and Yeosang!” Mingi rolled his eyes. “Yeah well, whatever it was it’s not my problem. He started it so he asked for it.” Jongho laughed off Mingi’s frustration, but what Yunho said kind of bothered him. Like, a lot. Of course, he cared for everyone. He’d put his life on the line for any of his co-workers, but he wasn’t sure they’d do the same for him. No one talked to him, checked on him, asked him if he wanted a coffee too. No one cared about him. It was like he was invisible to them. Only his boss and Jongho ever talked to him, and now Yunho but that didn't count. He was lonely. Really lonely.  
As Mingi sat there, the mood shifted greatly. Jongho started to notice. “Hey, dude, if it bothers you that much I can talk to-” Mingi shook his head.  
“No. It’s fine. I don’t really care. I’ll just deal with it.” He stood from his seat and avoided Jongho’s gaze. “I’ll see you later.” Jongho watched as his best friend sulked out of the cafeteria. Maybe he shouldn’t have laughed at him. 

Later that day, Mingi decided to have a drink. A couple, actually. He was drunk. And crying.  
He was lying on his couch holding a large bottle of wine to his chest and sobbing. It wasn’t his best moment by any means and he was definitely going to push all of these emotions away later, but he wanted to let them out a little. He’d probably been like that for an hour and he was starting to run out of tears. He took another sip of his drink and sighed.  
“I need some air,” he said to no one.  
Drunkenly, he slipped on his shoes, jacket and stepped out of his apartment. He decided a lap around his block would be enough to clear his mind and began stumbling down the street. 

Mingi thought about his childhood. When he was a kid, he didn't have many friends. He found it hard to talk to kids his age, they always said he was weird. Whenever he went to talk to another kid, he always said something weird or embarrassed himself. He was hyperactive and got extremely excited about talking about the things he liked. And he was loud, too loud for most. He was overwhelming, so people left him alone. His personality scared away any potential friends for years and that made his social skills decline severely. He was left alone, unable to socialize effectively with anyone.  
On top of being socially awkward, he became too blunt, too serious, and too cold for most people. He was always warm and gentle with his family, they accepted his quirky tendencies, his hyperactivity, and his ramblings; but with others he became different. It kept them away from him and he felt protected, but he was still lonely. He wanted to feel like he could be himself with others, but they wouldn’t like him if he was. He was an adult now too, he couldn’t act like a kid now. He had to accept the loneliness.  
The lap around the block was much shorter than he thought it would be, but he was starting to get tired anyway. Mingi went back up and made his way to bed. He let a few tears spill onto his pillow as he drifted off. 

It was 5 am when Mingi woke up from a consistent buzzing on his phone. He answered without looking as he always did and immediately regretted it once he heard the voice.  
“Look, I know we aren’t on great terms but we need to discuss what we’re going to do.” Mingi did not fight him.  
“Whatever.” He could hear Yunho scoff on the other end. “I’ll pick you up at 7. Don’t keep me waiting. ” click.  
Mingi groaned, and decided it was best to wake up now. The hangover he had would be massive.  
After stumbling through his morning routine, Mingi stood outside his apartment building. It was 6:59am when Yunho’s car pulled up in front of him. Surprised, he opened the car door and sat in the passenger's seat. They both sat silently in the parked car for a moment before Mingi spoke up.  
“You're early.” Yunho sighed, “Yeah I woke up early. This won't be a pattern.” Mingi chuckled, but muffled it.  
“What did you want to say?” Yunho was silent for a moment. It was like he needed a moment to process what he was going to say.  
“I think we need to spend more time together.” Mingi’s eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. There's no way he'd do that willingly.  
“I’m sorry, but I don't know if you noticed. You don't really like me, why would you want to do that?” Yunho looked at mingi like he was stupid. That kind of hurt Mingi, his emotions were still a little raw from last night.  
“Because we need this mission to work. I'm not willing to risk my friends' lives, so we need to get better at this.” Mingi scoffed, but he supposed he agreed.  
"Okay, what's your plan?" Mingi knew his idea would probably be stupid and not work but he thought he should try it anyway, just to say he tried.  
"I'm thinking I pick you up for work and I drive you home for starters; you're going to have to give me gas money though, I'm also thinking we need to spend time outside of work too. What do you do for fun?" Mingi didn't do much. He did whatever Jongho suggested, and that was usually karaoke and bar hopping. "Karaoke. I guess." Yunho smiled at him. Mingi forgot his smile was pretty. whatever. "Well, aren't I lucky? I can deal with karaoke." Yunho turned his attention back to the wheel and put the car in drive. Mingi felt weird about this. Yunho was just acting bitchy towards him Yesterday but now he is being nice? Why was he so hot and cold with him? Mingi couldn't make heads or tails of how to act with Yunho. He watched Yunho as he pulled off. He was so confused. 

After work, Yunho kept his promise and was waiting outside for Mingi with his car. Mingi got into the passenger’s seat and Yunho drove off. They let the silence sit for a while before Yunho spoke up.  
“Don’t think just because I'm nice to you right now that I want to be friends. I still think you're an asshole.” Mingi choked a little. So Yunho did still hate him. He shouldn't have, but he felt sad at the statement. He’s used to people thinking he's an asshole but for some reason, it stung a lot more right then. Maybe because his emotions were still raw. He decided, though, to push them down for now. “I’m sure. Everyone else thinks so too.” Yunho looked at mingi for a moment. At that moment he considered that maybe he had gone too far, it was supposed to be a joke. Mingi obviously took it seriously though and he didn't have it in him to apologize. Besides, it's not like Mingi ever apologized to him for what he said. 

They rode in the car silently for the rest of the time to Mingi’s place. Once Mingi got out of the car, he could feel his emotions well up in his chest again. He ran up to his room without saying goodbye to Yunho, leaving him upset. Yunho expected at least a thank you, but maybe Mingi was too upset. Damn, he should have apologized.  
In his room, Mingi started crying again. He barely bothered to take his work clothes before he wrapped himself up in the blankets and cried. He felt so alone. No one but Jongho knew who he really was, but no one would like that version of him either. He felt hopeless.


	6. Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingi apologizes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got a little carried away from my original plan here but i love it here

Mingi felt as if his head had split open, but he felt a lot better as well. After getting all his tears out, he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt like maybe he could keep the charade up a little bit longer and get through his mission. It was 9 am on a Friday and he didn't have to work today, which was such a weight off his shoulders. He’d worked for the past 6 days and with all the stress he had from Hongjoong and Yunho, he was extremely appreciative of the break. He checked his phone and noticed he had a missed call from Jongho. He called him back and was greeted by a very loud and very enthusiastic voice. 

“I know why Yunho hates you, man!” Of course, he talked to him even though he asked him not to. Great. 

“Jongho, I told you it was fine! Ugh, now he knows I was worried about it!” Mingi groaned, annoyed at his best friend’s inability to follow simple directions. 

“No, no don’t worry. I didn't ask him or anything, Yeosang told me!” Uh oh. Mingi didn't know Jongho was close enough with Yeosang to get that kind of information. 

“Let me tell you what happened”

  
  


_Jongho sat waiting eagerly at a booth in a cute brunch cafe for Yeosang to appear for their “hang out outside of work” even though it was their lunch break. The two had been saying they would have to hang out sometime, but it had been months before Jongho decided that there had been too much waiting and took some initiative. He planned a low stakes brunch date, not a date, hang out. He planned a low-stakes brunch hang out for the two of them and told Yeosang that he already made the reservation so he couldn’t back out. Yeosang seemed happy to have the planning not being in his hands and hugged Jongho before leaving after that conversation. Now here Jongho was, half an hour early and nervous as hell. He knew there wasn’t really anything more than a co-worker relationship between them, but he couldn’t help but feel a few butterflies as he waited for him._

_Not even a few minutes later Yeosang walked through the door with a ring from the door chime. Jongho sat up and waved over at him to come to the booth. Once Yeosang spotted him, he smiled a smile that took Jongho’s breath away. Okay so maybe, just maybe, Jongho had a smidge of feelings for him. Yeosang half jogged over to the table and sat down across from him. He and Jongho stared at each other for a few moments with dopey smiles before Yeosang decided to speak up._

_“You look nice. I like the shirt.” Jongho looked down at his outfit like he wasn’t the fool who put it on. He was reminded that he was wearing a t-shirt with a chibi version of Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender on it._

_“Thank you.” Jongho looked back up at Yeosang and the two laughed once they made eye contact. Jongho hoped that this was a good sign._

_After chatting about themselves and each other, the conversation shifted to their friends._

_“Yunho has really been complaining about Mingi a lot recently. I assumed that since he was your friend they’d get along, but it seems like they got off on the wrong foot.” Yeosang said with a pout. Jongho wasn’t surprised. Many didn't get along with Mingi, especially based on first impressions. Through hard work and a lot of tears, Jongho learned that Mingi was more than his abrasive nature, and was truly loving and warm, definitely like a puppy. When his life fell apart, so did his stoic nature and plain boring persona._

_“Mingi can be a bit harsh on first meetings. He’s learned some bad social habits, so I’m not too surprised.” Yeosang nodded in understanding hearing that._

_“Mingi happened to find and pick on one of Yunho’s biggest insecurities immediately and Yunho was really taken aback by that. Especially since he looked up to Mingi.” Jongho was surprised. Yunho had never talked about Mingi to him in a good light before, but then again they weren’t the closest._

_“If you don’t mind, what did Mingi say?” Yeosang’s face fell. Clearly, he had touched a sore spot._

_“There are rumors that Yunho sleeps with all kinds of people on the job, and of course they’re not true, but when people bring it up he gets really upset. It hurt more knowing that someone he looked up to would think that lowly of him.” Jongho was upset to hear that._

_“Really? Mingi usually is a little less petty than that.” Yeosang nodded. “Yunho did mention that he had said a few mean things to him out of habit. He’s a bit jealous of Mingi’s reputation and took it out on him." Mingi could be a bit abrasive and if Yunho touched a sore spot accidentally, then that would explain him lashing back. They should probably talk that out, it wouldn’t be healthy if they both held onto bad feelings from a botched first meeting._

_“I hope they can work it out, I think it's starting to get to Mingi.”_

As Jongho told the story, he made sure to leave out that Yunho looked up to him. That seemed like something Yunho should tell him himself.

"First of all, wow, that was totally a date!" Mingi started, teasing his friend. Jongho scoffed into the receiver, but Mingi could practically hear the blush in it. 

"Shut up! We're talking about you! You have to apologize to him!" Mingi stayed silent. He probably should because maybe that was a bit far. He shouldn't have fed into the rumors, but it's not like Yunho did any better. Mingi was self-conscious about his status amongst the others he wasn't well-liked and as much as he pretended and tried to convince himself it didn't bother him, it did. He wished people liked him as much as Jongho did, but he couldn't open up. "You're right I guess. That wasn't very fair of me."

"Good. I hope you two can at least be civil. It'll be a lot less stressful that way." 

Mingi hung up the phone. Sitting on the edge of his bed he thought about what to do. Yeah, the obvious answer was apologizing, but how would he do that? There was also no guarantee that Yunho would forgive him. He could apologize, hurt his pride, and then get hurt even more from an unaccepted apology and that would probably make matters worse. Should he just leave it alone for now? 

Right on time to interrupt his spiraling, his phone dinged. When he checked, he was surprised to see that it was actually a text from Yunho. 

**_Yunho_ **

_Are you free today? 9:45 am_

_Actually, I don't care you will be 9:45 am_

Mingi stared at his phone for probably way too long before formulating a response. 

**_Me_ **

_I thought you were joking about seeing each other outside of work..? 9:57 am_

**_Yunho_ **

_I wasn't but if you don't want to see me I can be. 9:58 am_

Mingi didn't mean to make it sound like that. Maybe he could apologize if he saw him today.

**_Me_ **

_no, I don't mind, I’m free. 10:05am_

**_Yunho_ **

_good. be ready and outside waiting for me at 2. 10:06 am_

His stomach was in shambles. He wouldn't call them butterflies because, well, he was scared as hell. If he apologized and it went south he'd just have to suck it up. He couldn't afford for his fortitude to be shaken. What did Yunho even have planned? He would just have to wait until 2 to find out. 

  
  


Well, here Mingi was tearing through his closet for the second time since he met Yunho. Why did Mingi not have casual clothes? He could surely put together an okay outfit if only he owned something other than fucking suits. Why had he poured himself so far into his work life that he didn't even have an outfit? He started to get anxious. It wasn't like he could just cancel on Yunho over an outfit, but he was starting to seriously consider that as an option. Just as he took out his phone to text Yunho that something came up, he received a text from him. 

**_Yunho_ **

_We're going shopping first so just throw on one of your suits. Bring your credit card ;) 1:45 pm_

Somehow, that calmed Mingi down. He was a little embarrassed to be read to filth with no hesitation, but he would feel a lot better if he went shopping. He needed to start dressing less like a corporate drone and more like a human anyway. 

Two rolled around shortly after and now Mingi was heading outside. On his way down he thought about the text Yunho had sent him. He seemed to have a whole day planned for them. Mingi smiled at that. It was nice to think that someone took the time to plan a day with him, even if it was Yunho. He couldn't quite wrap his head around why Yunho even thought it would be fun to spend any time with him, but he was a little too happy to think too hard on it. 

Once he reached outside, he saw that Yunho was once again already waiting for him. He sat in the driver's seat with an iced coffee in his hand and looking at his phone in the other. Mingi fought the grin that threatened to break out onto his face when he saw what the other was wearing. 

He half jogged to the car and knocked on the lowered window, startling Yunho. 

“Jesus, fuck! Don't do that!” as he spoke, Yunho’s hair sparkled. He had a few black and white shimmery butterfly clips in his hair. Mingi giggled internally at Yunho’s reaction. 

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.” then there was silence. For a second, Yunho stared at Mingi through the window before he spoke. “Can I get in the car?” Mingi asked, confused. 

Yunho then fumbled with the coffee and phone in his hands, trying to unlock the car door. Mingi slid into the passenger's side once he could. He looked at Yunho’s full outfit and felt severely plain next to him. Yunho’s whole outfit was black, but the jeans he wore had white butterflies on them, matching his hair. Mingi sat in the car quietly as Yunho pulled off, now feeling the anxiety he felt earlier come back. Yunho peeked over at him after a few minutes of silence. It was clear he didn't care for it, and truthfully Mingi didn't either. 

“I like the butterflies,” Mingi spoke up. He felt compelled to break the silence. “Thanks. I like them too.” it went silent again. This time, the silence was a bit more comfortable. 

Yunho drove them to a small mall. Mingi had been there a few times with Jongho, but he hadn’t ever really shopped there for himself. They walked into the building, Mingi following Yunho until they reached a part with a few stores that seemed to have simple clothes. 

“Okay so here's the deal. Either we go into these stores, you pick out a few safe things, and we leave, or,” He clasped his hands together as a huge grin spread across his face, “ you follow me to my favorite store and I pick out an outfit for you for tonight.” 

Two things crossed Mingi’s mind. First, what the hell were they doing after this that required Yunho’s expertise outfit help? Second, Yunho was kind of adorable when he got excited. He buried that second thought deep very quickly though. 

“I uh, guess you can choose my outfit?” Yunho let out a very high pitched screech at Mingi’s answer. 

“Say no more.”

Ming stared at himself in the mirror. They had gone through a few outfits that Mingi felt were a little too out there for him. This one though was winning Mingi over. He stared at himself in black pants skinnier than his usual, but still straight-legged, an oversized white sweater with red and blue details, and a grey trench coat. Mingi looked at a man with confidence he hasn't seen in years. A man who knew he looked good and felt good. He could've cried, and he almost did.

“Do you not like it? I think I saw something else over there you might-”

“I’m sorry, Yunho.” Yunho looked at Mingi through the mirror with a confused look. 

“You don’t have to apologize if you don’t like the outfit, it’s just clothes.” Mingi chuckled a little.

“No, not the clothes. I like the clothes." He looked down for a second before looking back into Yunho's eyes through the mirror. "I’m sorry for what I said when we first meant. I know better than to feed into rumors. I shouldn’t have brought that up.” Yunho looked down for a second. 

"Yeah, that was kind of shitty. Thanks for apologizing." Mingi nodded, still looking at Yunho from the mirror. He was grateful Yunho accepted his apology. He probably would've had a break down if he hadn't. 

"I'm sorry too by the way," Mingi finally turned his body to face Yunho, "I wasn't very nice either." Yunho looked back up and his eyes met Mingi's. 

"it's fine. I guess we both acted weird." Yunho nodded in agreement. This went a lot better than what Mingi could've hoped. 

"But do you really like the outfit? It fits your body type really well!" Mingi turned back to the mirror and gave himself another once over. He looked amazing. 

" I love it. I haven't felt like this in a while." Mingi could hear Yunho exclaim in victory quietly behind him as he continued checking himself out. Mingi could practically feel his heart warm up; Yunho was a lot nicer that his original thought. He could practically feel his walls start tumbling down, and for a split second he was okay with it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on twitter at kingjeongjeongs !!


	7. Afterglow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yunho makes Mingi happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi yall. This chapter was scheduled for Saturday but i got excited to share it with you guys after getting some really sweet comments!! thank you so much 🥺. if you guys want to connect with me, im on twitter @/kingjeongjeong

It turns out Yunho’s Idea was a club. A loud, sweaty club. Mingi was a little uncomfortable, but Yunho seemed to be enjoying it a lot, and they only arrived 5 minutes ago. 

“Mingi, let’s get shots! The club is no fun sober.” Yunho said with a big smile. Mingi should have known Yunho planned to get them both drunk when he dropped his car off and they caught a cab. 

Mingi didn't like to get drunk in public, it made him lose control, and losing control meant a lot of bad things for him, but staring at Yunho’s puppy dog eyes made him sure that a few wouldn’t hurt. 

“Fine.” Yunho practically backflipped out of happiness. The two made their way to the bar and sat next to each other on the stools. Yunho ordered them a round of something and turned to him. The look on his face made Mingi nervous; he looked mischievous like he just lured him into a trap and was about to catch him. 

“Do you know why we’re here, Mingi?” Yunho spoke like a movie villain and it was starting to freak him out. “No?” Mingi answered nervously. Yunho giggled. Mingi scoffed. 

“So, the plan is we get better at pretending we’re a couple. I brought you here because we should practice in a club since that’s where we go. Besides, we won’t get weird looks if you absolutely fail at this since everyone is drunk anyway.” Yunho made it sound like this was normal. This wasn’t normal, and quite frankly it was ridiculous. What could he do though, he was already here and he had no car. Fuck. 

“What am I going to do, say no? You practically stranded me here.” Just then the drinks were ready. Yunho took one and slid the other to Mingi, gesturing for a toast. “To faking it.” Mingi clinked his shot against Yunho’s and then threw it back. It burned his throat, which now was a good thing. It was going to take a few more of those before he would be able to get through this. 

After a few more shots, Mingi was feeling significantly less worried about this pretending thing. Yunho grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor. While Mingi might have been intoxicated, he wasn’t quite drunk enough to be dancing. He told Yunho this, begging them to do literally anything else. “Don’t worry, Love. No one but me is watching, you’ll be okay. Besides, this is what you do at a club.” The way he said “love” sent shivers down Mingi’s spine. He looked into Yunho’s eyes. Yunho was smiling at him with a genuine smile, and that made Mingi smile too. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to dance a little. “Okay. Let’s dance.”

“Don’t freak out, okay?” “What do you-” Suddenly Yunho’s back was pressed against his chest. Okay, what the fuck. “Yunho what are you doing!?” Yunho scoffed. “I thought I said don’t freak out! This is how couples dance at clubs!” Yunho grabbed Mingi’s hands and brought them to his waist. 

“Leave your hands here and sway back and forth. I’ll do the rest.” Mingi did as he was told and Yunho began to swing his hips. He was far enough from him now that their bodies weren’t touching, but he ghosted close to him. Mingi felt sweat bead on his forehead as Yunho danced provocatively so close to him. After a few seconds, Yunho spun his body back to face Mingi. He draped his arms over Mingi’s shoulder and looked him in the face, still dancing slightly. 

“Don’t be so tense, Love. No ones gonna believe anything if you’re scared to touch me.” He buried his head into the crook of Mingi’s neck just as the song changed. It was slower, so it was probably acceptable to not be dancing like crazy, but mingi thinks he would’ve preferred that at this point. Yunho’s breath was tickling his neck and it was sending continuous shivers down his spine. What did he do to be put in this situation? 

“Stop being tense and just relax.”

Mingi tried, but Yunho’s words spoken into his neck tickled, so he giggled. Yunho’s head shot up from his neck and he looked him straight in the eyes. “What?” Mingi suddenly felt extremely self-conscious. Did he smell? Yunho smiled so hard that Mingi thought his face would split open. 

“You just giggled.” Mingi stared at him before realizing that he did. He drew his hand up from Yunho’s waist to cover his mouth. At that moment he realized how fuzzy his head felt. He was drunker than he cared to admit. 

“No! Don’t do that!” Yunho grabbed Mingi’s hand and tried pulling it off his mouth, “It was adorable!” Mingi felt a blush creep up on his cheeks hearing that. He let Yunho pull his hand away, and Yunho held onto it. 

“Don’t ever hide your laugh, oh my God! Who knew you giggled?!” Yunho laughed at him, but Mingi could tell it wasn’t malicious. It made his heart warm. They stared at each other with dopey smiles for a little too long until Yunho looked away. Mingi didn't notice the blush adorning Yunho’s cheeks. 

“Let’s get more drinks.”

More drinks were probably not a good idea, because now Mingi and Yunho were in the middle of the dance floor, Yunho slut dropping in front of him. They had gained a little bit of an audience at this point, but they were both too drunk to care. As their dancing got a lot more sloppy their crowd left. Once they both noticed no one was watching anymore, they decided to take a break. 

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Hold us some seats at the bar." 

Mingi nodded and made his way back to the bar. Once he was there, he checked his phone. He had a missed call from Jongho. He was worried it could be something serious, so he went towards the bathrooms where it was quiet to give him a callback. Just as he was about to call, he heard Yunho’s voice, only he sounded scared. 

“Please leave me alone. I told you I’m not interested.”

“Don't play coy with me, baby. I'll get you to come home with me.” 

Mingi turned the corner when he heard the second person. He saw Yunho’s back as he moved away from the guy talking to him and his heart started pounding. He was going to punch that prick if he didn't leave Yunho alone. 

Mingi sped down the hallway and once he reached Yunho he wrapped his arms around his waist and placed his head on his shoulder. He felt him tense up before he spoke into his ear, but loud enough for the man in front of them to hear. “Hey, babe. What's taking you so long?” When Yunho heard his voice he relaxed. Good. Mingi looked up at the guy in front of them and he could see he was fuming. 

“Sorry, love. This guy wouldn't leave me alone.” He nodded his chin in the direction of the man in front of them. Mingi smirked at him. That only made the man angrier. 

“Sorry, he’s taken,” Mingi turned his attention back to the man in his arms, “let's get out of here babe. It's getting boring.” Yunho looked up at Mingi next to him and nodded. Mingi could see that Yunho was scared from the look in his eyes. This guy had clearly shaken him up, Mingi needed to get him out of there. “Come on.” He let go of his waist and grabbed his hand, leading him out of the club. 

“Mingi, I'm a lot drunker than I thought,” Yunho said as they stumbled out of the front door. Mingi, still holding his hand, led them to a bit of the curb they could sit on while they waited for a cab. Mingi let Yunho lean his head on his shoulder as he called the taxi service. Once he got off the phone, he looked over at Yunho, who was now sleeping. Mingi laughed lightly. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, It was endearing. 

Mingi sat there watching him sleep until the cab came. He carefully put the half-sleep Yunho into the back seat with him as he thought about how he was going to get Yunho home. He didn't know his address, and there was no way he was going to be able to get it out of him right now. He told the driver his own address, he would just have to sleep on the couch again tonight. 

Once Mingi got Yunho into his house and his bed, he made his way back to the kitchen to get him a glass of water. Mingi recounted the events of the night and his eyes widened in shock once he realized what he did tonight. He danced, and a lot. Not only did he dance a lot, but he also danced with Yunho. He felt his cheeks redden as he poured the water into the glasses. 

He left the water on his nightstand and went to the living room. He sat on the couch and chugged his water. There, he remembered that Jongho had called. He shot him a text saying he’d call him in the morning and laid down. He felt like these days he slept on the couch a lot more than he should. 

Mingi woke up around 7 am with a pounding headache. He sat up, wondering if Yunho had woken up yet. He went and peeked his head into his room and saw that he was still sleeping. The water was empty, which made him smile. He hydrated at least, so hopefully, the hangover wouldn't be too bad. He made his way to the kitchen, deciding he’d cook breakfast for both of them since he was here. He felt it necessary especially after the night Yunho had. 

He started whipping up some eggs in a bowl and popped a few slices of bread in the toaster. Before he knew it, he was done and set up the island for them to eat. He went back to his room to see if Yunho had woken up, and once he peeked his head through he saw he had. He was sitting up partially in the bed and typing away furiously on his phone. Once he noticed Mingi’s presence, his face lit up. 

“Mingi! Good Morning.” Yunho locked his phone and put it in his pocket, still in his clothes from last night. Mingi smiled back at him and gestured toward the open door. 

“If you're feeling hungry I made breakfast, or you could take a shower first. Whichever you prefer.” Yunho brought his legs to the side of the bed. “I'll come to eat breakfast.”

Mingi nodded and made his way back to the kitchen. 

The two sat and ate their food in silence for a while before Yunho broke it. 

“Thanks by the way.” Mingi knew exactly what he was referring to. He felt like he didn't need a thank you, it was the least he could do. No one deserves to be harassed. 

“No problem, Yunho.” Yunho looked up at Mingi with a smile on his face. Mingi felt his heart race. Staring at Yunho in his house eating his eggs was a lot for him. He ignored that thought though, it was dangerous to go down that thought path and he didn't want to start ruining what he just developed. 

“I didn't know you had moves like that Mingi, you're really good! Almost as good as me.” Mingi scoffed at that. 

“Oh hush, I'm not that good!” Yunho looked at Mingi with a shit-eating grin and now Mingi was second-guessing his word choice. “So you do think I'm a good dancer?”

Mingi laughed out loud. He felt good. Really good. 

“You know Mingi, you should laugh more. It really suits you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Yunho took a shower after they ate and Mingi offered him a hoodie and a pair of sweats, the only things he owned other than suits and the outfits he acquired yesterday. Yunho stepped out of the bathroom in his clothes and once again his heart fluttered. He ignored it all though.

The two sat there in silence for a little while, neither of them knowing what to say. Usually, this silence would be filled with smart remarks and hostility, but Mingi felt no urge to do so. He wanted to make Yunho laugh instead, but he kept his jokes to himself. He didn't want to risk saying something stupid. 

“Don’t worry about paying for a cab or anything, I can give you a ride if you want.” Yunho beamed at him. Mingi almost giggled again. 


	8. A Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't be mad at me." He whispered. Yunho pulled away and before Mingi could process what Yunho had said to him, his hand was on his cheek cupping his face. The contact made his stomach flip. He looked Yunho in the eyes once more and realized what was about to happen.

Mingi and Yunho didn't see each other much for a few days after their little sleepover. They were both too busy preparing for their next encounter with Kim Hongjoong that they could only speak to each other in passing. Mingi pretended it didn't bother him, but he started to miss Yunho as the days went on. Of course, he would never tell Yunho that. He didn't want to seem clingy or anything, he just really liked the idea of having more than one friend. It seemed like the whole company was now involved in their case since there was a threat to everyone’s safety. The tension at the office was high; everyone was concerned. 

Truthfully, Mingi felt a little pressured. If they fucked this up, they would be putting everyone at risk, and he can’t have that. He would have to do everything he could to protect his friends and co-workers, and he was willing to go through with anything to keep them safe. 

Mingi sat in his car after work trying to gain his composure after a particularly trying day. Just as he was trying to calm himself down, someone knocked on his passenger side window. He jumped, then looked over. It was Yunho. Mingi felt a little of his anxiety melt away and be replaced with excitement. He rolled the window down so he could hear him. 

“Hey, you alright? You look a little stressed.” Yunho frowned, concern written all over his face. Mingi sighed. Yunho took that as a no. 

“Open the door, let’s talk.”

Mingi opened the door and Yunho hopped right into the car. They sat in silence for a while before Yunho spoke. 

“Is it because of the mission?” Yunho asked, turning to face Mingi. Mingi faced him, looking him in the eyes. After a few seconds, he nodded. Now, Yunho sighed. 

“I’m pretty stressed about it too. Don’t be too worried though. We got this; we’re doing a really good job convincing them. All we need to do is butter them up a bit. We got this.” Yunho seemed to be reassuring himself just as much as he was reassuring Mingi. 

“We got this.” Mingi echoed. Yunho smiled at him and Mingi smiled back. They had to do this well. They had no other choice. 

Yunho opened the car door and stepped out. As he did so he gave Mingi a few last reassuring words. 

“ Don’t think too hard and get some rest. The game is in two days and you need to be at your best. “ He offered Yunho a soft smile as he shut the door. 

“Thanks, Yunho. You too.” 

They waved goodbye, and after a few more seconds Mingi pulled out of the parking lot and started his drive back home. 

  
  
  


It came time for the next game. Ming had picked Yunho up and Mingi was actively trying to keep his eyes  _ off _ of Yunho. It wasn’t the outfit this time, he expected that from him now. What got Mingi was the combination of his hairstyle and makeup. His hair was slicked straight back, he had silver eyeshadow and for some reason, it was all getting to him. He tried to keep his eyes facing front, but he looked so pretty. 

They pulled up to the club and were greeted by the short man who he remembers being called Wooyoung. Last time, they were greeted on the inside by Wooyoung, but he was here with his watchdog to meet them. 

“Hey fellas!” He spoke. He of course was just as cheery as before when he greeted them. Yunho waved back with a bright smile and Mingi followed suit. He found Wooyoung tolerable for a criminal.

“I’m gonna have to check you, fellas, for weapons before we enter, sorry. Hongjoong is trying to beef up security so if you have anything dangerous on you I’ll have to take it.” Wooyoung seemed genuinely sad to say that. Mingi wondered what caused this. He looked over at Yunho who seemed to have a concerned look on his face. Maybe going into a dangerous space with no weapons was a death wish, but at this juncture, they had no other choice. 

Yunho pulled out the gun he had tucked away in his boots and put it in Wooyoung’s hands. Mingi felt eyes piercing through him and looked over to see that Wooyoung’s bodyguard, San was his name, was glaring at them. He put a protective arm around Wooyoung’s waist. 

Oh. Maybe not a bodyguard. 

Yunho took a few knives out of his boots as well then it was Mingi’s turn. Mingi only carried a pistol on him and he knew that without it he would feel completely vulnerable. Sure, he could fight, but without that extra protection he could end up in a sticky situation. Regardless, he took the gun out of his holster that was concealed under the long black trench coat he wore and gave it to Wooyoung. With a smile, Wooyoung nodded and let them pass through the doors. Mingi hoped that Wooyoung had a way of making sure he got his gun back, he was a bit attached to that one specifically. He has been carrying that same one around for a few years now and it was his favorite. A bit scratched, sure, but it worked fine and he loved it. 

The two walked into the club and headed straight to the back room where the game takes place. When they walked in, the energy of the room seemed different than the last time. Everyone seemed a lot less stuck up this time, chatting with each other freely. Mingi thought this is probably because everyone knew no one was carrying anything deadly on them. The two exchanged glances, signaling to the other that this would hopefully be an easier time for them than the last encounter. Mingi was sure that Hongjoong and Seonghwa still carried weapons and they were outnumbered drastically, so he couldn’t relax completely. If they got found out, they would be in grave danger so they had to play it safe. 

“Mingi! Yunho! You made it!” Hongjoong appeared seemingly out of thin air in front of them. Mingi must’ve zoned out. 

“Hello, Hongjoong,” Mingi spoke politely. He felt Yunho snake an arm around his waist, which was surprisingly comforting.

Hongjoong’s eyes flicked to the hand on Mingi’s waist, and back up to his eyes, but Mingi didn't notice. Yunho on the other hand did. 

“How are you fellas tonight? Have you had any drinks yet?” Hongjoong spoke cheerfully. Mingo felt slightly uneasy at how peppy he was. Most of his encounters with criminals were nowhere as pleasant as this. 

Yunho spoke up beside him, “Not yet! Is Seonghwa working the bar again?” 

Hongjoong nodded with a smile, “He won’t be there till after the game starts, though.” 

“Even better, once Mingi starts getting focused he’ll ignore me all night so I'll keep Seonghwa company.” The two laughed, Mingi joined in as well a beat too late. Luckily Hongjoong didn't seem to notice. 

Hongjoong wished them luck and went to talk to the other men in the room which left Yunho and Mingi to run over their strategy again. They sat down at the table where the game would take place in a little while and began discussing. 

“Okay, so first things first,” Yunho Put his hand on Mingi’s thigh. Mingi pretended that the contact didn't send shivers up his spine. “You have to try and get closer to Hongjoong. You’ve got a great personality so use that to your advantage.” Yunho turned to look at Seonghwa, who was currently carrying a few boxes. The man saw them looking and offered a small smile. Just as Mingi smiled back, Yunho squeezed his thigh. Mingi looked at Yunho, eyes wide. 

“He’s going to watch us all night. We have to try and be more convincing,” He tucked a piece of Mingi’s hair behind his ear as he spoke, “Okay?”

Mingi swallowed hard and nodded. Jesus this night would be torture. 

A few minutes after Mingi and Yunho went over their plan, The game started. The table was once again filled by men. A few less than last time, all ready to start. While the atmosphere had seemed much more laidback earlier, Hongjoong looked more on edge than he had last time. Maybe it was because of what had happened in the last game, or maybe he was just like that sometimes. Whatever it was, it gave Mingi a bad feeling about their success rate this go-round. 

Hongjoong dealt the cards as Seonghwa stood next to him. Mingi looked at the two and he understood. They seemed so powerful together. Hongjoong seemed like the one in control, but Seonghwa was just as dangerous. They were equal, which just troubled him more. If they only focused on Hongjoong, would they succeed? Would Seonghwa find them out even if Hongjoong didn’t? 

The game proceeded. People losing and gaining money, the whole time Hongjoong kept the same posture. It seemed as if he was determined to remain stoic. It was frustrating. How could he talk to a brick wall? No wonder people found Mingi hard to talk to. If he acted like this all the time then he could understand, it was impossible to talk to someone who didn't give you the opportunity to. They would have to change tactics. Mingi turned to face Yunho, he had been focusing on Seonghwa at the bar. He leaned in to whisper into Yunho’s ear, ignoring the heat that rose into his cheeks as he did so. 

“Go talk to Seonghwa, we aren’t getting anywhere here.” Yunho nodded, got up, and headed to the bar. 

Yunho approached the bar with a plan already in mind. His strategy would be to gossip, something he knew a lot about.

“Hi, Seonghwa!” Yunho greeted him with a bright smile, which the man returned. 

“Hey, Yunho, what can I get you?” Yunho didn't want to get drunk here, so he thought for a second. 

“Gimme a beer.”

Seonghwa chuckled lightly. “Beer tastes like piss.” Yunho chuckled as well. “Yeah, but Mingi will be upset if he has to carry my drunk ass home from another bar.” 

Seonghwa nodded and retrieved a glass to pour the beer for him. Yunho was about to ask him a question when Seonghwa beat him to it. 

“How long have you and Mingi been together again?” Shit. When did they meet again?

“We met in college and started dating in our second year.” Yunho pulled a smile. The story was genuinely very cute, something Yunho himself would have loved to be true for him. 

"Ah, I see. I'm a little shocked, did you two ever break up?" Seonghwa asked as he went to the beer tap and started filling the cup up. Yunho stared at the beer pouring out for a second before it registered what Seonghwa had asked. 

"No, we haven't. Why?" Yunho looked up at Seonghwa as he spoke. Seonghwa had an unreadable expression on his face which was always worrisome when you're telling a lie. Were they not doing a well enough job convincing him? 

"Oh, nothing," Seonghwa handed him the mug, "It just seems like you two don't know how to touch each other. I just assumed there might have been a reason for the…" he looked Yunho dead in the eye, "Awkwardness." 

Shit. 

"Oh, I can assure you I know how to touch my boyfriend." Yunho felt himself blush as he spoke. He couldn't believe that they had been caught being awkward. It wasn't his fault, he wasn't the one who reacted so drastically every time he got touched. He had to think of something to convince Seonghwa. 

"Oh no, I'm sure. I was just curious." Seonghwa's face was still unreadable. Yunho wracked his brain for a second as he sipped his beer thinking of ways to convince the man at the bar. Only one thing came to mind as he sat there. He threw back the rest of his beer, excused himself from Seonghwa, and made his way back over to Mingi. 

Mingi watched as Yunho approached him, seemingly determined about something. The game had just gone on a break as he walked over and everyone around them had taken to talking amongst themselves. Mingi didn't know what to expect coming from Yunho, but he definitely didn't expect what he did next. 

Yunho came over and sat down on Mingi's lap like he had done one time before. Before Mingi could say anything, Yunho put his arms around Mingi's shoulders and began speaking quietly. 

"Hun, he's suspicious. Just go along with what I do." Yunho had a smile on his face but there was a clear message in his eyes. Don't fuck this up. 

Yunho looked at Mingi for a second, almost like he was hesitating. Then he leaned forward to Mingi's ear. 

"Don't be mad at me." He whispered. Yunho pulled away and before Mingi could process what Yunho had said to him, his hand was on his cheek cupping his face. The contact made his stomach flip. He looked Yunho in the eyes once more and realized what was about to happen. 

Yunho wasted no time and leaned in close until his lips were ghosting over his own. Yunho then hesitated again. Mingi's heart rate was through the roof and the anticipation was killing him. His mind went blank and for a moment all he wanted was to close the gap between their lips, so he did. 

Yunho's lips were soft and a little sticky from his lipgloss, but Mingi could barely focus on that; his body was on fire. His body was scorching hot and it was all because he was kissing Yunho. He knew this was all for show, but that didn't stop his heart from pounding so hard he thought it would shatter. 

Their lips moved together for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity for Mingi. Yunho pulled away and slowly opened his eyes back up, looking Mingi in his. Mingi swore he saw stars in his eyes, but maybe that was just the reflection of his own stars in his. Yunho smiled at him genuinely and that only made his heartache. His mind started racing. He knew what was happening now, he could feel it, but he wasn't about to admit that. 

"Are you okay?" Yunho asked after a few seconds and Mingi snapped out of his trance. Unable to speak, he nodded. Concern was clear on Yunho's face, but he accepted Mingi's answer anyway. 

"If I leave right now it'll look suspicious, can I stay here for a minute?" Yunho was referring to his lap and Mingi tried hard to pretend that wasn't getting to him either. Once again, he nodded, trying to pretend he was fine. Yunho laid his head and Mingi's shoulder and stayed there for a while. The butterflies in his stomach danced even harder. 

After the game picked back up, Yunho went back to the bar. It seemed like the conversation between Seonghwa and him was minimal now, Yunho simply nursing his beer in silence as Seonghwa tended to others. Mingi tried to focus on the game but nothing seemed to matter to him as he kept thinking about Yunho. He found himself missing the other on his lap, wishing he would have stayed there. 

He scolded himself; he couldn't let himself fall into that thought, they were co-workers and just barely friends. Anything else would complicate things, especially if Yunho did not feel similarly. This was just work, they had a job to do. Yet he still felt the ghost of Yunho's lips on his own as he stared down at his cards. What cruel jokes the world liked to play on him. 

In the end, the whole thing was a bust. They got no information this time and it all ended quickly. After the game, Hongjoong disappeared so Mingi didn't get a chance to try and talk to him. Yunho had no luck with Seonghwa and now they both were waiting with Wooyoung to get their weapons back from him. Wooyoung sent San, the man who followed him around, to go get their things from Hongjoong's room. Yunho and Mingi didn't know much about Wooyoung, but he and San were authorized to go into Hongjoong's private space. Maybe they could get some information out of them. Yunho seemed to have the same idea. 

"Wooyoung, San's your boyfriend right?" Yunho asked innocently. Wooyoung started to fidget once he heard that question. Clearly something was up there. 

"Not exactly. We aren't really in a 'relationship'." Interesting. 

"Ah, really? I'm sorry, I just assumed. He seems so protective over you so I just thought maybe it was something like that." Yunho turned away, seemingly embarrassed. Mingi knew he wasn't though, it was all an act, and a smart one at that.

"He's been like that ever since I can remember. After we met he kind of attached himself to me. He's a really good guy and we would be dating if it wasn't so complicated, but he refuses because of his position. He doesn't want me to get hurt if something happens to him. " Wooyoung spoke sincerely and a little too truthfully. It seemed like this situation was bothering him and having the opportunity to talk about it was important to him. They weren't the people he should be sharing this with, though. 

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. It must be hard then." Yunho spoke just as San came back with their weapons in hand. Mingi felt relieved to see his gun again, he never wanted it to leave his side again. Yunho looked like he would cry as soon as he saw his knives, almost completely ignoring his gun. San handed them the items in silence.

Mingi drove them home and the whole ride silence filled the car. Mingi could only think about Yunho. Whenever he tried to think of what happened tonight, the only thing that popped up in his head was the kiss. It was haunting him. The silence was deafening and he could see Yunho was uncomfortable, but he couldn't think of anything that would fix the situation. He couldn't trust himself to keep sane at the moment.

"Is something wrong?" Yunho asked finally, the silence breaking him.

Mingi thought for a moment.

"I'm just upset we didn't get any intel today." Not a complete lie. 

Yunho visibly relaxed in the passenger's seat, but Mingi was too focused on the road to notice. 

"Oh, yeah, Hongjoong seemed rather preoccupied today." Mingi nodded in agreement. He still couldn't bring himself to have a conversation though, so he stayed silent once again. Yunho seemed to sense that now wasn't the time for conversation and followed suit, leaving the rest of the drive to be filled with silence. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on twitter @/kingjeongjeong!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are very much appreciated 👉🏽👈🏽😗


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